Husband jailed again for murder

A murderer is to return to prison to continue his life sentence after being found guilty for the second time of killing his wife almost 19 years ago.

Russell Causley was convicted over the death of Veronica Packman at a retrial at Exeter Crown Court.

Causley, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, killed his wife in the summer of 1985.

The 60-year-old, who was first convicted in December 1996, had his conviction quashed in June 2003 when the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.

You are, in my judgment, a wicked pair Mrs Justice Hallett

He murdered Mrs Packman, 40 - who was known as Carol - between June and August 1985, shortly after moving his lover into their Ipswich Road home in Bournemouth, Dorset.

He changed his surname to that of his lover, Patricia Causley, in 1989 and set up a "series of deceits" to demonstrate his wife was still alive.

Causley, of Portlock Place, claimed his wife had fled abroad with a man in a red Porsche.

He sat impassively in the dock on Friday as the eight men and three women on the jury returned their verdict after nine-and-a-half hours.

Sentencing him, Mrs Justice Hallett said what he had done was "beyond the understanding of most normal people".

'Wicked pair'

She said: "Not only did you kill your wife and somehow dispose of her body, you left your daughter in a permanent state of ignorance as to her mother's fate.

"Your mistress appears to be of the same kind, and I am not surprised she has not dared show her face in this court. You are, in my judgment, a wicked pair."

Chris Lee, deputy chief constable of Dorset Police, welcomed the verdict: "Evidence has always pointed to Russell Causley being responsible for the murder, and the verdict of the court today reflects the evidence in the case."

Causley was first convicted of murder by a jury at Winchester Crown Court on 18 December, 1996.

A first appeal against his conviction failed in October 1998, when Lord Justice Rose ruled there were no grounds for believing the jury's verdict was unsafe.

Causley's original conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in London in June last year, but the appeal judges ordered that he should be tried again.